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5174ahgiAbby Hopper Gibbons Family Papers, 1824-1992 [bulk 1850-1892]FHL staffFriends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.1996Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, May 2002.ENGAbby Hopper Gibbons Family Papers, 1824-1992 [bulk 1850-1892]FHL staffFriends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.1996
Descriptive Summary
Papers, 1824-1992 [bulk 1850-1892]RG 5/ 174Abby Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893)5 boxes; 2.5 linear ft.Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399
Phone: (610) 328-8496 FAX: (610) 690-5728
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog
Abby Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893), daughter of Isaac T. Hopper (1771-1852), was an important figure in many of the reform movements of the mid- and late nineteenth centuries, especially abolition and her work with the Women's Prison Association and Isaac T. Hopper Home. In 1833, she married fellow Hicksite Quaker, James Sloan Gibbons (1810-1892), a member of the New York Yearly Meeting of Friends. Her daughter, Sarah Hopper Emerson, used some of this material as a basis for her 1897 biography of Abby Hopper Gibbons. The collection contains about 1,680 ALsS and related materials. Of particular note is the correspondence sent and received by Abby Hopper Gibbons, including family letters and and related to her work to assist Union Soldiers during the Civil War. Also includes letters from Union soldiers, prominent Americans such as Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph Choate, and Lydia Maria Child, and correspondence reflecting Quaker family life and concerns.

RG 5/ 174

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL

Abigail Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893) was an important figure in many of the reform movements in the middle and late nineteenth century. Like her father, Isaac T. Hopper (1771-1852), "Abby" Gibbons was an ardent abolitionist and dedicated to prison reform. She served as a Civil War nurse and visited army camps in that period and also was a welfare worker. After the War, she established a "Labor and Aid Society" to provide work for returning veterans. Abby Hopper Gibbons was one of the founders of the Women's Prison Association and The Isaac T. Hopper Home in New York City, which was established to aid former prisoners' return to society. Many of the leading reformers of the day were entertained in her New York City home; the house was destroyed by a mob during the 1863 draft riots.

Abigail Hopper Gibbons was born in Philadelphia in 1801, the third of ten children. In 1833, she married fellow Quaker, James Sloan Gibbons, in New York City. Both before and after her marriage, she directed Quaker schools. Like her father and her husband, she was deeply committed to anti-slavery concerns. After they were disowned by the New York Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) in 1841 for their writing and testimonies against slavery, the following year she resigned her membership, along with her four minor children. Nonetheless, the family remained "Quakerly" in worship and life-style.

Abigail and James Gibbons had six children. Two boys died in infancy, and a third son died suddenly after an accident while a student at Harvard. Many of the letters in the collection reflect the concerns of family life. Abigail Hopper Gibbons remained active in reform concerns into old age, and in her later years dressed dolls in Quaker dress to present to quarantined and hospitalized children.

Some of the correspondence in this collection were published in abbreviated form in 1897 for a biography, The Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons, Told Chiefly through her Correspondence, edited by her daughter, Sarah Hopper Emerson. T The bulk of the correspondence concerns the Civil War years, and Abigail Hopper Gibbons's work to assist Union officers. The collection consists of about 1,680 letters and related material, primarily letters to and from Abigail Hopper Gibbons, but also including correspondence of her husband and other family members. From the Civil War years, there are many letters from Union soldiers. The collection offers a valuable resource to scholars of nineteenth century reform movements. Included are letters from prominent figures including Theodore Roosevelt, Lydia Maria Child, and Joseph H. Choate.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection contains about 1,680 ALsS and related materials. Of particular note is the correspondence sent and received by Abby Hopper Gibbons, including family letters and and related to her work to assist Union Soldiers during the Civil War. Also includes letters from Union soldiers, prominent Americans such as Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph Choate, and Lydia Maria Child, and correspondence reflecting Quaker family life and concerns.

The collection was given by Mrs. Gibbons's great-grandchildren. It had descended through her daughter, Lucy Gibbons Morse, and grand-daughter, Rose Morse Dunning. One of the donors, Sarah Dunning Schear was a graduate of Swarthmore College, Class of 1934.

Access

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

Collection of about 1,680 letters given to FHL, originally sorted into five boxes, divided roughly into categories of General Family letters, Civil War events, Civil War time span, and prominent correspondents. (Sarah Hopper Emerson's biography of her mother, Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons, told chiefly through her correspondence (1897), was based on a selection of these letters.) Also included in this gift was a wax-(over composition?) headed doll dressed in Quaker costume, dressed by AHG.

A preliminary inventory was prepared by Albert Fowler in 1988. Subsequently, the correspondence was sorted into about twenty series, generally by family members, and arranged alphabetically and chronologically within each series. In 1993 additional material on the liberty ship "Abigail Gibbons" was received from the
family. In 1996, the collection was arranged in eight series determined by the primary correspondents.

Various photographs, originally part of this collection, were removed to PA 69.

Related Material

See also:

RG 5/115, Sarah Hopper Palmer Papers
SELECTED SEARCH TERMS

Some of the correspondence in this collection were published in abbreviated form in 1897 for a biography, The Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons, Told Chiefly through her Correspondence, edited by her daughter, Sarah Hopper Emerson.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings: Researchers are advised to search by subject and author, when applicable.

Including ALS to A. H. Gibbons and husband James S. Gibbons from Rebecca Gibbons, ALS to AHG and JSG from Mr. and Mrs. Wells, ALS in response to Mr. and Mrs. Wells, and ALS to JSG from Edward [Brighurst?]

Memos31584mo 1863 & n.d.5 memos

Lists of the contents of supply shipments sent to AHG at Point Lookout, MD. Includes ALS from Henry Dickinson.

Correspondence between AHG and her military superiors regarding the treatment of African-Americans Sandy and Charlotte Dorsey. Also includes ALS from "Many Soldiers" to AHG, a hate letter demanding her departure.

Army correspondence31601863 9mo. 23-10mo. 7 & n.d.2 ALsS, 6 memos

1 memo titled "Orders of the Rebel League," 1 titled "Translation of Orders," 2 Memorandum in protest of the Army discharge of AHG's Protestant nurse crew, and 4 copies of Dr. Heger's correspondence regarding the discharge of her nursing crew.

Correspondence re: Isaac T. Hopper Home31611867 6mo 2 ALsS

Correspondence with Joshua Phillips of the Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction, regarding the Isaac T. Hopper Home.

Miscellaneous3162

Correspondence in envelope labeled "Precious Relics from under the feet of the mob that sacked our house July 14, 1863." Includes ALS from Isaac T. Hopper to Lydia Maria Child, testimony dated 1845 3mo. 3 from Isaac T. Hopper, 2 ALsS from Willie to Sally, and ALS from Hannah Townsend to Abby Gibbons.

re: the National Association for the relief of destitute colored women and children.

Mary Vaughan to "Sir"52921866 8mo.ALS

re: information on A. H. Gibbons for her book on Famous Women.

FragmentsFragments1864 10mo.-1891 6mo. & n.d. 8 ALsS293

Includes 1 letter to "Edward", 1 from Grace Lewis to "My dear friend", 1 to Jenny Capron regarding the late Jacob Capron, 1 memo regarding the death of A. H. Gibbons and the "Bill for the establishment of a Reformatory for Women", 1 expressing gratitude for the care of the author's son, and various memos.

re: Liberty ship "Abigail Gibbons." Letter concerns the only surviving negative and print of the ship. Also, information on the ship.

Our Famous Women: An Authorized Record of the Lives and Deeds of Distinguished Women of Our Time.1884

A. D. Worthington & Co., Publishers

5297Papers removed from the book Our Famous Women. n.d.

Given the nature and date of the material, it is possible that they were placed in the book by Sarah Dunning Schear. Includes a short biography of Abigail Gibbons, compiled by S. Schear; an invitation to a meeting of the Women's Prison Association;some papers from the book The House of God, by Desider Holisher; a pamphlet for the Hopper Home; 1 ALS to Sally Gibbons; a photograph of Miss Francis Willard, and other papers.